

My father and brother had preferred my sister over me since we were kids. In fact, they hated me. When I was bullied at a party, it was a mafia boss, Edwin Carlson, who stepped in. He saved me and announced right there in front of everyone that I was the woman he loved. He warned that anyone who dared mess with me again would have to deal with him. Edwin bought a castle deep in the forest just for me. He filled the garden with my favorite tulips and held a grand wedding there that made headlines across the country. For a while, I became the woman everyone envied. Seven months pregnant, I attended my father's birthday party. But that night, a sudden fire broke out. My biased father and brother only cared about saving my sister, Kelsey Grant. They rushed her out while I was left behind to die in the flames. In the end, it was Edwin who carried me out. But when I woke up in the hospital, I saw something that shattered my heart. "What the hell were you thinking, starting that fire?" Edwin's face was dark with rage. "Stephanie's only seven months pregnant! Are you trying to force her into early labor? Were you trying to kill her and the baby?" My father and brother spoke in hushed voices, trying to explain. "Kelsey has leukemia. The doctors said we can't wait anymore—she needs surgery soon. And she needs the baby's bone marrow..." "I care about Kelsey's life more than you do. Why else would I have married Stephanie? But you can't hurt her. I have my own plan!" Edwin warned coldly. "Saving Kelsey is the goal, yes—but if you try to save her at the cost of Stephanie's life, I won't allow it!" After hearing that, I fled the hospital room in a panic. So that was why he married me. Not because he loved me, but to save Kelsey. Everything he did for me—his kindness, his care—was all for her. Just like my father and brother, he loved Kelsey. Not me. If no one loved me, then I figured I might as well just disappear.

My father and brother had preferred my sister over me since we were kids. In fact, they hated me. When I was bullied at a party, it was a mafia boss, Edwin Carlson, who stepped in. He saved me and announced right there in front of everyone that I was the woman he loved. He warned that anyone who dared mess with me again would have to deal with him. Edwin bought a castle deep in the forest just for me. He filled the garden with my favorite tulips and held a grand wedding there that made headlines across the country. For a while, I became the woman everyone envied. Seven months pregnant, I attended my father's birthday party. But that night, a sudden fire broke out. My biased father and brother only cared about saving my sister, Kelsey Grant. They rushed her out while I was left behind to die in the flames. In the end, it was Edwin who carried me out. But when I woke up in the hospital, I saw something that shattered my heart. "What the hell were you thinking, starting that fire?" Edwin's face was dark with rage. "Stephanie's only seven months pregnant! Are you trying to force her into early labor? Were you trying to kill her and the baby?" My father and brother spoke in hushed voices, trying to explain. "Kelsey has leukemia. The doctors said we can't wait anymore—she needs surgery soon. And she needs the baby's bone marrow..." "I care about Kelsey's life more than you do. Why else would I have married Stephanie? But you can't hurt her. I have my own plan!" Edwin warned coldly. "Saving Kelsey is the goal, yes—but if you try to save her at the cost of Stephanie's life, I won't allow it!" After hearing that, I fled the hospital room in a panic. So that was why he married me. Not because he loved me, but to save Kelsey. Everything he did for me—his kindness, his care—was all for her. Just like my father and brother, he loved Kelsey. Not me. If no one loved me, then I figured I might as well just disappear.

To fund her grandmother's surgery, Chloe Lane signs a one-year sham marriage contract with Victor Grant. After a quick courthouse wedding, they part ways—only to reunite a year later when Chloe takes a job at his mill. Neither recognizes the other, thanks to a lost certificate and false leads.When Zara Taylor, obsessed with Victor, frames Chloe, Victor and Chloe team up. Sparks fly as they fight the crisis, but both hesitate, believing the other is married.

Yvonne, the daughter of billionaire Mel, was abducted by traffickers at a young age. Mel left everything behind to search for her for years, even resulting in a disability in one of his legs, but he ultimately found her. To celebrate Yvonne's return, Mel planned a welcome party where he intended to reveal his true identity and hand over his empire to her. However, Mel's girlfriend, Judith, mistakenly believed Yvonne was his mistress and confronted her violently, leading to a series of events until Mel finally revealed the truth.

.Every April Fools' Day, my boyfriend joined his childhood friend in the same cruel prank, pretending to propose to me. Last year, I slipped the ring onto my finger, my heart full of hope. Suddenly, the mechanism snapped tight. Pain shot through my hand, and I cried out. He apologized afterward and promised that, this year, the proposal would be real. As such, I arrived carefully dressed, believing him. Instead, I was met with a face full of cake. He reached out gently, wiping the cream from my face as if it were nothing more than a harmless joke. However, this time, I took a step back. After six disappointments, I chose to walk away. So why was it that, in the end, he was the one consumed by regret?

.Every April Fools' Day, my boyfriend joined his childhood friend in the same cruel prank, pretending to propose to me. Last year, I slipped the ring onto my finger, my heart full of hope. Suddenly, the mechanism snapped tight. Pain shot through my hand, and I cried out. He apologized afterward and promised that, this year, the proposal would be real. As such, I arrived carefully dressed, believing him. Instead, I was met with a face full of cake. He reached out gently, wiping the cream from my face as if it were nothing more than a harmless joke. However, this time, I took a step back. After six disappointments, I chose to walk away. So why was it that, in the end, he was the one consumed by regret?

At eighteen, Charlotte had spent years being mocked for her weight. When her online boyfriend Derek told her, “I’ll love you no matter what you look like,” she believed for the first time that she was worthy of being loved. Determined to attend the same college as Derek and finally meet him in person, Charlotte spent a year losing weight, going from 220 pounds to 110. But the day before classes began, Derek posted her old photos in a freshman group chat with hundreds of members. He also twisted an ordinary party game into a humiliating bet to “lose his girlfriend to Nathan,” openly wagering that Charlotte would be too embarrassed to show up at the party. Charlotte never reveals what she looks like after losing weight. Instead, she bets that she will be there. When she arrives at the party dressed to impress, no one recognizes her at first. In front of everyone, she completes all three couples’ challenges, wins the bet, takes the prize money, and breaks up with Derek on the spot. Amid the chaos, she also reunites with Nathan, a childhood classmate from elementary school. Once college begins, Charlotte uses the tactical skills she developed from years of analyzing matches for Derek to earn a place on the university esports team through an anonymous tryout. Derek, however, steals her strategy notes, while Brianna uses an anonymous gossip account to spread rumors that Charlotte only earned her position because of her looks and connections. Determined to prove herself, Charlotte faces one setback after another: her tactical work is stolen, she is pressured by a contract that exploits her appearance and body image, she collapses during a livestream, and private training footage is leaked. In the end, Charlotte stops measuring her worth by her weight or appearance. Relying on her own skill and judgment, she recognizes that their old strategies have been leaked, leads the university team to a comeback victory in the semifinals, and ultimately wins the interstate championshi

After I was caught in a dockside explosion, I was bound to a Survival Program. It gave me twenty-five years and four designated targets. If even one target’s Love Score or bond score reached 100%, I could wake up in my real world. But I failed all four. Because every target I tried to reach eventually turned toward Sophia Lane, the heroine of this world. They called my pain a performance. They called my tears manipulation. They said I was only pretending to break down so they would choose me over Sophia. But if they never loved me, why did they lose control when my mission failed and I chose to leave this world for good?

Nora Whitman had been in love with New York lawyer Elliott Mercer for seven years, but on their wedding day she discovered that he had kept a flirtatious voice message from his young assistant, Tessa. Confronted with Nora’s ultimatum—“If you leave now, don’t come back to marry me”—Elliott still rushed off to comfort Tessa, who claimed she was having a panic attack. Nora stopped waiting and publicly called off the wedding. Soon after, Elliott’s father was hospitalized from the shock. At the hospital, Nora discovered she was pregnant, only to see Elliott continue protecting Tessa. She refused to reconcile, packed her things, and left, but amid the relentless emotional and physical trauma, she lost the baby. It was only after Nora completely refused to forgive him that Elliott admitted he had not been without a choice: he enjoyed being needed by Tessa, and he had been certain Nora would always be there waiting for him. Nora moved to London and resumed the career she had once set aside for him, growing from a crisis PR consultant into a strategist who could hold her own. Three years later, they met again at an old café in New York. Elliott finally admitted that he had taken her love for granted, treating it as something that would never disappear. But Nora no longer needed this belated regret. She said goodbye to the past and finally understood that a complete life is not about waiting for someone to choose you, but about no longer giving up yourself for love.

On Christmas Day, my parents decided to add my sister Chloe's name to the family trust. As the lawyer prepared the documents, he glanced at me. "And this young lady? Should she be included as well?" My mother waved a hand dismissively. "No need. She's just a foster child." Ever since Chloe was brought back home, I—their biological daughter—had become the outsider. All because Chloe insisted she was the only daughter in the family. If anyone so much as mentioned that I was blood-related, she'd have a PTSD episode—screaming, crying, the whole breakdown. Eventually, everyone just accepted it: "The Haper family only has one real daughter. The other one's a foster kid." At first, I tried to correct them. I was their real daughter too. But my parents would go pale and snap at me: "Chloe already struggles with insecurity. It's such a small thing—do you really have to push her over the edge?" Then came the day I got my acceptance letter from Stanford. A background investigator showed up at our door. "Ms. Kent, what is Kate's relationship to you?" My mother's voice was breezy. "Oh, she's just a foster child we took in." Right there, I froze. After the investigator left, I took matters into my own hands. I filed for independent status and booked a one-way ticket to California. Since they refused to claim me as their daughter, then in seven days, I'd stop being the extra person in their house.